High-response intelligent camouflage temperature control system

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of high response intelligent camouflage temperature control systems, system is from top to bottom in turn and lay infrared visible light camouflage camouflage layer, quantum block hot plate layer, two-way temperature control layer and waste heat management layer;Quantum block hot plate layer uses array independent micro VC hot plate unit structure.VC hot plate upper and lower board surface respectively set hydrophilic function area and super-hydrophobic function area, supporting adsorption reinforced composite capillary component and hui-shaped stepped channel, adapt to anti-gravity two-way stable phase change cycle.Two-way temperature control layer uses TEC and PTC parallel symmetric layout, realize temperature rising rate symmetric response;Waste heat management layer is exported by water cooling, phase change heat storage closed loop high efficiency storage TEC waste heat.The application can realize millisecond level high response, pixel level accurate temperature control, effectively eliminate infrared thermal feature crosstalk, greatly improve the infrared camouflage stealth performance and working stability under complex battlefield environment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of cross-technology of infrared stealth and efficient phase change heat transfer, and more specifically, it relates to a high-response intelligent camouflage temperature control system. Background Technology

[0002] Intelligent camouflage technology is a core technology in the field of modern military stealth. The temperature control accuracy, response speed, and temperature uniformity of the camouflage surface directly determine the infrared stealth effect. In dynamic battlefield environments, camouflage systems need to quickly adapt to changes in ambient temperature and accurately match background thermal characteristics. At the same time, they need to avoid heat accumulation and lateral thermal crosstalk caused by multi-unit array arrangement, and avoid infrared feature exposure caused by local overheating and uneven temperature distribution.

[0003] Existing intelligent camouflage temperature control systems mostly employ large-volume water cooling, semiconductor refrigeration, or traditional phase change material heat exchange solutions, which generally suffer from numerous technical defects. Firstly, the temperature control response dynamics are asymmetrical. Traditional solutions exhibit a "fast rise, slow fall" problem. PTC heating, being a volumetric heating mode, has a relatively fast response, while TEC refrigeration relies on surface conduction heat transfer, resulting in high thermal inertia and a delayed response, making it unsuitable for rapidly changing infrared environments and prone to causing thermal signal distortion. Secondly, traditional heat spreader structures have poor adaptability. Conventional VC heat spreaders can only operate stably under positive gravity. In an anti-gravity state with the camouflage layer on top and the temperature control structure below, the working fluid's reflux power is insufficient, easily leading to drying at the evaporation end and significantly degrading temperature control accuracy. Thirdly, thermal isolation is poor. The integral continuous heat transfer structure causes heat coupling between adjacent temperature control units, generating lateral thermal crosstalk, resulting in blurred edges in infrared images and preventing pixel-level independent temperature control. Fourthly, waste heat treatment capacity is insufficient. Waste heat generated by TEC refrigeration cannot be efficiently exported and stored, easily causing heat accumulation, which in turn affects the system's cooling efficiency and exposes the equipment's infrared characteristics. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to provide a high-response intelligent camouflage temperature control system that solves the technical problems of unstable temperature control under anti-gravity conditions, asymmetrical heating and cooling response, inter-unit thermal crosstalk, waste heat accumulation, and low temperature control accuracy in the prior art.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solution: A high-response intelligent camouflage temperature control system is provided for temperature control of camouflage surfaces under anti-gravity conditions. The system includes an infrared and visible light camouflage layer, a quantum block heat spreader layer, a two-way temperature control layer, a waste heat management layer, and a controller.

[0006] The quantum block heat exchanger layer is closely attached to the bottom of the infrared and visible light camouflage layer. It is composed of several independent micro VC heat exchanger units arranged in an array. Each micro VC heat exchanger unit is independent of the others, which can achieve pixel-level independent temperature control and suppress large-scale heat crosstalk from the source.

[0007] The micro VC vapor chamber unit includes a VC vapor chamber, which is an independent, enclosed vacuum chamber structure. The VC vapor chamber includes a vacuum shell, inside which, from top to bottom, are a vapor chamber top plate, an adsorption-enhanced composite capillary assembly, and a vapor chamber bottom plate. The entire assembly is sealed using a vacuum brazing process to ensure the vacuum level of the chamber and provide a stable environment for the working fluid phase change cycle. The lower surface of the vapor chamber top plate and the upper surface of the vapor chamber bottom plate are simultaneously provided with a hydrophilic wetting zone and a superhydrophobic condensation zone. This bidirectional partitioned functional structure can adapt to both cooling and heating heat flow directions, achieving bidirectional enhanced phase change heat transfer.

[0008] The adsorption-enhanced composite capillary assembly includes an upper wick structure and a lower wick structure arranged in parallel. A capillary copper pillar array is disposed between the upper and lower wick structures, with the upper and lower ends of the capillary copper pillar array abutting the surfaces of the heat spreader top plate and the heat spreader bottom plate, respectively. This structure, together with the double-wick structure, forms an all-round capillary reflux network. Relying on the capillary effect, it overcomes the limitations of gravity, providing stable power for the evaporation, transport, condensation, and reflux of the working fluid under anti-gravity conditions, effectively avoiding the problem of drying at the evaporation end.

[0009] The upper surface of the heat spreader plate is provided with a U-shaped stepped channel corresponding to the TEC semiconductor cooling plate. The U-shaped stepped channel is composed of multiple layers of nested rectangular annular channels. Adjacent rectangular annular channels are connected by locally connected channels to form a multi-path, stepped flow guiding structure within the unit. The channel cross-section of the rectangular annular channels and the connected channels is trapezoidal, which can increase the channel guiding area, optimize the capillary climb effect, and adapt to the processing and forming of arrayed rectangular units.

[0010] The U-shaped stepped channel is also equipped with a capillary mesh to further enhance the ability of condensate to gather, guide and return, reduce the problems of liquid accumulation in the corners of the cavity, local stagnation and hot spots in the center, and ensure the temperature uniformity inside the single unit.

[0011] The micro VC heat spreader units are coated with aerogel. The ultra-low thermal conductivity of the aerogel is used to achieve thermal isolation between adjacent temperature control units, completely blocking lateral thermal crosstalk between units, avoiding blurring of infrared thermal pattern edges, and ensuring pixel-level high-precision thermal feature replication effect.

[0012] The bidirectional temperature control layer is positioned directly below the VC heat spreader and includes a TEC semiconductor cooling plate and a PTC heating plate arranged side-by-side, forming a parallel bidirectional symmetrical temperature control structure. The cold end of the TEC semiconductor cooling plate is in close contact with the bottom of the VC heat spreader, actively extracting heat from the VC heat spreader to achieve rapid cooling of the camouflage layer. The PTC heating plate is also in close contact with the bottom of the VC heat spreader, conducting heat upwards to achieve rapid heating of the camouflage layer. This parallel layout ensures completely independent and symmetrical heating and cooling channels, solving the asymmetrical response problem of "fast heating and slow cooling" in traditional systems.

[0013] The waste heat management layer is located below the hot end of the TEC semiconductor cooling plate and is used to efficiently export and store the waste heat generated by the TEC hot end, preventing the back conduction and accumulation of waste heat. The waste heat management layer specifically includes a finned water-cooled head, a heat storage device, a spiral copper tube, and a micro-pump, with each component working together to form a closed-loop heat exchange circuit. The finned water-cooled head is arranged close to the TEC hot end, relying on its large-area fin array structure to quickly absorb the waste heat generated by the TEC operation; the heated cooling water is transported to the heat storage device through the spiral copper tube, where it undergoes a solid-liquid phase change heat exchange with the phase change material inside the heat storage device, stably storing the waste heat as latent heat; the cooled water, after heat exchange and cooling, flows back to the finned water-cooled head driven by the micro-pump, completing the closed-loop cycle and continuously and stably exporting system waste heat, ensuring TEC cooling efficiency and system thermal stability.

[0014] The controller is electrically connected to the bidirectional temperature control layer and can collect the camouflage surface temperature and the ambient background temperature in real time. Based on the temperature difference between the two, it dynamically allocates the driving current of the TEC semiconductor cooling plate and PTC heating plate corresponding to each micro VC heat sink unit, and precisely adjusts the temperature parameters of each independent unit to achieve adaptive infrared camouflage matching in dynamic environments.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: Attached Figure Description Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the system; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the system; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of a VC heat spreader. Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of an explosion of a VC heat spreader. Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the heat-spreading base plate structure.

[0016] In the diagram, the correspondence between component names and drawing numbers is as follows: 1-Infrared and visible light camouflage layer; 2-Quantum block heat spreader layer; 20-VC heat spreader; 21-Vacuum shell; 22-Adsorption-enhanced composite capillary assembly; 221-Upper wick structure; 222-Lower wick structure; 223-Capillary copper column array; 23-Heat spreader top plate; 24-Heat spreader bottom plate; 3-Two-way temperature control layer; 31-TEC semiconductor cooling plate; 32-PTC heating plate; 4-Waste heat management layer; 41-Finned water cooling head; 42-Heat storage device; 43-Spiral copper tube; 44-Micro pump; 5-U-shaped stepped channel; 51-Rectangular annular groove; 52-Partially connected groove. Detailed Implementation

[0017] The embodiments of the present invention will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. The following examples are for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

[0018] Example: like Figures 1-5 As shown, a high-response intelligent camouflage temperature control system is used for camouflage surface temperature control under anti-gravity posture, i.e. working condition with the camouflage surface facing upward and the temperature control and heat dissipation structure facing downward. The whole adopts a layered modular stacked structure, from top to bottom: infrared and visible light camouflage camouflage layer 1, quantum block heat dissipation plate layer 2, bidirectional temperature control layer 3, and waste heat management layer 4. Together with an external intelligent controller, it forms a complete closed-loop high-response intelligent temperature control system.

[0019] The quantum block vapor chamber layer 2 is the core temperature-equalizing heat transfer structure of the system. It consists of multiple sets of micro VC vapor chamber units of consistent size and structure arranged in a rectangular array. Each micro VC vapor chamber unit is an independent, closed vacuum structure with no through-flow working fluid channels between units. The gaps are filled with aerogel insulation material, which structurally blocks lateral thermal crosstalk between adjacent units, achieving true pixel-level independent temperature control and meeting the requirements for high-precision infrared thermal pattern replication against complex backgrounds. Preferably, the aerogel insulation layer between units uses silica aerogel or polyimide aerogel. Both types of aerogel have ultra-low thermal conductivity, high porosity, and high temperature resistance, achieving excellent unit thermal isolation without increasing structural thickness and weight, completely eliminating inter-pixel thermal diffusion and edge blurring problems.

[0020] The VC vapor chamber 20 of a single micro VC vapor chamber unit is vacuum-brazed and sealed in a vacuum shell 21. The high vacuum environment inside eliminates air heat exchange resistance and ensures efficient circulation of the phase change working fluid. Inside the vacuum shell 21, a vapor chamber top plate 23, an adsorption-enhanced composite capillary assembly 22, and a vapor chamber bottom plate 24 are vertically assembled. The upper surface of the vapor chamber top plate 23 is tightly bonded to the infrared and visible light camouflage layer 1 with high thermal conductivity silicone, and the lower surface of the vapor chamber bottom plate 24 is bonded to the bidirectional temperature control layer 3 with thermally conductive silicone, effectively reducing interfacial contact thermal resistance and ensuring rapid heat transfer.

[0021] The hydrophilic wetting zone and superhydrophobic condensation zone on the lower surface of the top heat spreader 23 and the upper surface of the bottom heat spreader 24 form a bidirectional adaptive structure. This allows for enhanced evaporation and enhanced condensation according to the different heat flow directions of cooling and heating, achieving bidirectional low-resistance phase change heat transfer and overcoming the shortcomings of traditional heat spreaders, which are characterized by unidirectional high efficiency but prone to drying under anti-gravity conditions. Preferably, the hydrophilic zone can be made of CuO, Cu2O, Cu(OH)2, SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3, or PDA materials to ensure high surface wettability and promote uniform spreading and evaporation of the working fluid. The hydrophobic zone can be made of PTFE, PDMS, fluorosilane, or OTS materials to achieve superhydrophobic properties, inducing rapid droplet condensation and shedding of the working fluid. This bidirectional material combination further enhances the phase change heat transfer efficiency under both forward and reverse heat flow conditions.

[0022] The adsorption-enhanced composite capillary assembly 22 serves as the core power structure for anti-gravity working fluid reflux. Through the upper wick structure 221 and the lower wick structure 222, combined with the through-type capillary copper column array 223, a three-dimensional full-domain capillary adsorption network is formed. It can overcome gravity by relying on capillary force throughout the process, providing stable power for working fluid evaporation, steam transport, and condensate reflux, and ensuring the continuous and stable phase change cycle under anti-gravity conditions.

[0023] The heat spreader 24 corresponds to the U-shaped stepped channel 5 in the area of ​​the TEC semiconductor cooling plate 31. It adopts a stepped layout with multi-layer nested rectangular ring channels 51 and locally connected channels 52. The trapezoidal channel cross section, combined with the capillary mesh structure inside the channel, can greatly improve the efficiency of condensate collection, guidance and return, effectively improve the problems of uneven temperature inside a single unit, liquid accumulation in corners and hot spots in the center, and ensure that the temperature of a single quantum block is highly uniform.

[0024] The bidirectional temperature control layer 3 adopts a horizontally parallel symmetrical layout of TEC semiconductor cooling plate 31 and PTC heating plate 32. Each VC heat spreader 20 is independently equipped with a set of temperature control components. The cooling and heating channels are completely independent, avoiding mutual interference during operation, achieving symmetrical heating and cooling rates and synchronous response, and solving the core defect of asymmetrical dynamic response in traditional systems.

[0025] The waste heat management layer 4 is located directly below the hot end of the TEC. It forms a closed liquid-cooled heat storage circuit through the finned water cooling head 41, spiral copper tube 43, heat storage device 42, and micro pump 44. It can quickly absorb, transport, and store the waste heat of the TEC, prevent the back conduction and accumulation of waste heat, and stably ensure the cooling efficiency and thermal stealth performance of the system.

[0026] The specific implementation process for high-temperature refrigeration conditions in this solution is as follows: When the battlefield ambient temperature is higher than the set temperature of the camouflaged target, the system enters the active cooling temperature control mode. The controller precisely drives the TEC semiconductor cooling plate 31 of the corresponding pixel unit to work. The cold end of the TEC continuously draws heat from the heat spreader plate 24, so that the heat spreader plate 24 forms a low-temperature condensation zone and the heat spreader plate 23 forms a high-temperature evaporation zone, forming a stable heat flow gradient from top to bottom.

[0027] At this point, the hydrophilic wetting zone on the lower surface of the heat spreader 23 promotes the uniform spread and rapid evaporation of the liquid working fluid inside the cavity. This efficiently absorbs the surface heat of the infrared and visible light camouflage layer 1, rapidly reducing the overall temperature of the camouflage surface and eliminating local hot spots. The vapor generated by the evaporation of the working fluid rapidly diffuses to the low-temperature heat spreader 24 under the pressure difference of the vacuum cavity. It forms highly efficient droplet condensation in the superhydrophobic condensation zone on the upper surface of the heat spreader 24 and quickly falls off, significantly reducing the condensation heat transfer thermal resistance and improving the heat transfer efficiency.

[0028] The condensed liquid working fluid, under the step-by-step guidance of the rectangular annular groove 51, the partially connected groove 52, and the capillary mesh in the U-shaped stepped channel 5, and in conjunction with the three-dimensional capillary network composed of the upper wick structure 221, the lower wick structure 222, and the capillary copper column array 223, relies on capillary force to completely overcome the gravitational resistance of the anti-gravity posture and quickly flows back to the evaporation zone of the heat spreader top plate 23, completing a continuous and stable phase change closed-loop cycle, thus solving the problem of evaporator end drying and refrigeration failure under anti-gravity conditions.

[0029] Meanwhile, the large amount of waste heat generated at the TEC hot end is rapidly and completely absorbed by the high-density finned water-cooled head 41. The heated cooling water is then transported to the heat storage device 42 via the spiral copper tube 43, where it undergoes a solid-liquid phase change heat exchange with the internal phase change material. This process stably stores the waste heat as latent heat, preventing it from being conducted back to the VC heat spreader 20 and interfering with the cooling accuracy. After the heat exchange and cooling, the cooling water is returned to the water-cooled head under the constant power drive of the micro pump 44, forming a continuous closed loop that ensures stable operation of the cooling system.

[0030] In this plan, the specific implementation process for low-temperature heating is as follows: When the battlefield ambient temperature is lower than the set temperature of the camouflaged target, the system shuts down the TEC semiconductor cooling plate 31 and activates the PTC heating plate 32 to enter the active heating temperature control mode. The heat generated by the PTC heating plate 32 is evenly conducted to the heat spreader 24, making the heat spreader 24 a high-temperature evaporation zone and the heat spreader top plate 23 a low-temperature condensation zone, forming a heat flow direction from bottom to top.

[0031] The hydrophilic wetting area on the upper surface of the heat-spreading base plate 24 promotes the rapid spread and evaporation of the liquid working fluid. The working fluid vapor diffuses upward under the pressure difference of the cavity and quickly reaches the area of ​​the heat-spreading top plate 23. It undergoes efficient droplet condensation in the superhydrophobic condensation area on the lower surface of the heat-spreading top plate 23, releasing the latent heat of phase change. The heat is quickly conducted to the top infrared and visible light camouflage layer 1, achieving rapid and uniform heating of the camouflage surface.

[0032] The condensate generated during heating is stably drawn back to the evaporation zone of the heat spreader plate 24 through the synergistic flow guiding effect of the adsorption-enhanced composite capillary component 22 and the U-shaped stepped channel 5, continuously completing the phase change heating cycle. The bidirectional hydrophilic / hydrophobic functional partition structure enables the system to achieve low-resistance and high-efficiency phase change heat transfer under both cooling and heating conditions, achieving symmetrical heating and cooling response rates and consistent dynamic temperature control accuracy.

[0033] In summary, the micro VC heat exchanger units arranged in the array of this invention are completely independent, with no through channels or metal heat conduction paths between units. Combined with the aerogel insulation filling structure, lateral thermal crosstalk between adjacent units is completely blocked, thoroughly avoiding the problems of blurred infrared image edges and thermal feature diffusion caused by traditional monolithic heat transfer structures. Furthermore, the uniform flow guidance characteristics within the unit via the U-shaped stepped channel 5 ensure extremely uniform temperature within each quantum block. The collaborative operation of multiple units can reproduce high-spatial-frequency infrared thermal patterns in complex environments with high precision.

[0034] Throughout the system's operation, the controller monitors the temperature field data across the entire area in real time, compares the difference between the ambient temperature and the set temperature of the camouflaged target, and dynamically matches and adjusts the operating power and status of each independent unit's TEC / PTC. This achieves millisecond-level rapid response and pixel-level independent and precise temperature control, enabling it to adapt to complex and dynamic battlefield environments around the clock and continuously ensure the infrared stealth effect of the equipment.

[0035] The embodiments of the present invention are given for illustrative and descriptive purposes only, and are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to better illustrate the principles and practical application of the invention, and to enable those skilled in the art to understand the invention and to design various embodiments with various modifications suitable for a particular purpose.

Claims

1. A high-response intelligent camouflage temperature control system, characterized in that, The system is used for temperature control of camouflaged surfaces under anti-gravity conditions, including Infrared and visible light camouflage layer (1). The quantum block heat exchanger layer (2) is attached to the bottom of the infrared and visible light camouflage layer (1); the quantum block heat exchanger layer (2) is composed of several independent micro VC heat exchanger unit arrays. The miniature VC heat spreader unit includes VC heat spreader (20). A bidirectional temperature control layer (3) is disposed directly below the VC heat spreader (20); the bidirectional temperature control layer (3) includes a TEC semiconductor cooling plate (31) and a PTC heating plate (32) arranged in parallel. The cold end of the TEC semiconductor cooling plate (31) contacts the bottom of the VC heat spreader (20) to achieve camouflage layer cooling, and the PTC heating plate (32) contacts the bottom of the VC heat spreader (20) to achieve camouflage layer heating. The waste heat management layer (4) is located below the hot end of the TEC semiconductor cooling plate (31) and is used to export and store the waste heat generated by the TEC hot end; The controller is electrically connected to the bidirectional temperature control layer (3).

2. The high-response intelligent camouflage temperature control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The VC heat spreader (20) includes a vacuum shell (21), and the interior of the vacuum shell (21) is provided with a heat spreader top plate (23), an adsorption-enhanced composite capillary assembly (22) and a heat spreader bottom plate (24) from top to bottom. The lower surface of the heat spreader top plate (23) and the upper surface of the heat spreader bottom plate (24) are provided with a hydrophilic wetting area and a superhydrophobic condensation area.

3. The high-response intelligent camouflage temperature control system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The adsorption-enhanced composite capillary assembly (22) includes an upper wick structure (221) and a lower wick structure (222) arranged in parallel; a capillary copper column array (223) is provided through the upper wick structure (221) and the lower wick structure (222); the ends of the capillary copper column array (223) abut against the surfaces of the heat-spreading top plate (23) and the heat-spreading bottom plate (24), respectively.

4. The high-response intelligent camouflage temperature control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The upper surface of the heat-spreading base plate (24) is provided with a stepped channel (5) in the shape of a cross. The corresponding position of the TEC semiconductor cooling plate (31) is provided.

5. A high-response intelligent camouflage temperature control system according to claim 4, characterized in that, The U-shaped stepped channel (5) is composed of multiple layers of nested rectangular ring channels (51) and connected by a local connecting channel (52); the channel cross-section of the rectangular ring channel (51) and the connecting channel (52) is trapezoidal.

6. The high-response intelligent camouflage temperature control system according to claim 5, characterized in that, Its features are, A capillary mesh is provided on the U-shaped stepped channel (5).

7. The high-response intelligent camouflage temperature control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The waste heat management layer (4) includes a finned water cooling head (41), a heat storage device (42), a spiral copper tube (43), and a micro pump (44).

8. A high-response intelligent camouflage temperature control system according to claim 1, characterized in that, Its features are, Aerogel is coated between the micro VC heat exchanger units.

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